My name is Carlo DeVito, and I am the author of East Coast Wineries: A Complete Guide from Maine to Virginia published by Rutgers University Press. This blog is dedicated to primarily east coast wines and wineries including Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. It will also feature products and information from other regions.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Ed McCarthy On Cool Climate Wines and A Recommendation of Cool Climate East Coast Wines!

Recently esteemed wine educator and writer Ed McCarthy (Wine
for Dummies with Mary Ewing-Mulling, among many others) wrote the seminal piece
on a trend that has been developing in the wine industry over the last three or
four years – the pendulum in the US among wine aficionados and foodies is
swinging back from big, powerful, West Coast styled wine to a more reserved
palate more on par with German, Italy, and France, citing a love of cool
climate wines. There is no question this trend is in full swing and still has
lots of momentum to go. Ed is 100% right on the money! Bravo for the essay. It’s
right on the spot.

Here’s a small sample, but I do recommend you read the whole
thing:

The
U.S. East Coast versus West Coast Palate

By
Ed McCarthy

Jan
29, 2013 Wine Review Online

Is
there a difference in the palates of wine drinkers living on the East Coast of
the U.S. as opposed to those west of the Mississippi River, especially those on
the West Coast? In other words, does
geography make a difference in wine tasting?

Judging
by my own experience and observation, I believe that many wine drinkers living
in the East Coast cities, such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and
Washington D.C., do taste and/or appreciate wines differently from those on the
West Coast. Not really because of their
different geographic locations, of course, but more so because of the wines
that each group has been exposed to in their environment.

For
example, let’s consider the columnists of our own publication, Wine Review
Online. It is no coincidence that the
three columnists on the East Coast, Michael Apstein, Michael Franz, and I,
write primarily about European wines, especially those from France and
Italy. And conversely, those columnists
living in California write mainly about California wines.

We
all tend to write about what we know and like.
Many of us on the East Coast have had more exposure to French, Italian,
and Spanish wines than those from California, and we have formed our own
palates accordingly.

There
are fundamental differences in the mainly cool-climate wines of Europe--also
known in wine parlance as Old World wines—than in the warmer-climate wines of
California, South America, and Australia, the so-called New World wines.

Now, I have met Ed. Had dinner with him and Mary. I have
tremendous respect for him, and I would posit that he is probably one of the
two best experts on Champagne in the world. I would love to work with Ed
someday. Ed has forgotten more about wine than I know. He has a excellent wit, and is a wonderful dinner companion. And he has devoted his life to studying and understanding and teching wine. And he’s not the only
one saying these things. Dan Berger recently spoke and has written about the
trend swinging back towards more balanced, cool climate wines. Hooray! Truly, I
am thrilled Ed wrote the article.

But here’s where I have an issue: Ed, what about east coast
WINE? Where is the love? There are more than 800 wineries on the east coast. Nothing of the Finger Lakes?
The North Fork? The Hudson Valley or Niagara? How about Virginia? Perhaps I am only splitting hairs, but at the
same time I feel like I must amend Ed's article just a touch...My word isn't as good as Ed's (I mean that, he is a brilliant wine expert...and I do mean expert), I'm not even the Sorcerer's apprentice.

Chardonnay from Long
Island is every bit as exquisite as that of Burgundy. The Pinot Noirs of New
York and Virginia are improving daily, and can compete without question. And
the elegant red Meritages and blends being produced by those states also are
producing wines that show sophistication and complexity, as well as promise.

So here’s a recommendation. Instead of walking in and asking
for a cool climate wine, and letting some wine shop steward steer you to the
French or Italian section, insist on trying a cool climate LOCAL wine.

Pages

About Me

Carlo DeVito is a long time wine lover, and author of books and magazine articles. He is the author of Wineries of the East Coast. He has traveled to wine regions in California, Canada, up and down the east coast, France, Spain and Chile. He has been a published executive for more than 20 years. He shepherded the wine book program of Wine Spectator as well as worked with Kevin Zraly, Oz Clarke, Matt Kramer, Tom Stevenson, Evan Dawson, Greg Moore, Howard Goldberg, and many other wine writers. He has also published Salvatore Calabrese, Jim Meehan, Clay Risen, and Paul Knorr.
Mr. DeVito is the inventor of the mini-kit which has sold more than 100,000,000 copies world wide. He has also publisher such writers as Stephen Hawking, E. O Wilson, Philip Caputo, Gilbert King, James McPherson, John and Mary Gribbin, Thomas Hoving, David Margolick, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., John Edgar Wideman, Stanley Crouch, Dan Rather, Dee Brown, Susie Bright, and Eleanor Clift.
He is also the owner of Hudson-Chatham Winery, co-founder of the Hudson Berkshire Beverage Trail, and president of the Hudson Valley Wine Country.
https://carlodevito.wordpress.com/